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Most HR Data Is Bad Data - HBR

This is like a toxic virus propagating through the corporate bodies of large organisations; given that managing and allocating talent is an ever more important KSF in the Information Age, it goes a long way to explaining why large companies are more and more often just relying on sheer momentum to continue to survive. Not sustainable in the long term. 

Over the past couple days, I’ve been reading with interest and sadness as friends of Dave Goldberg have said their public goodbyes. And I thought, as someone who only met him once, it might be worth sharing that experience, that perspective.

Melissa Leon speaking with Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard:

In the music world, another issue has emerged regarding artists’ compensation from streaming platforms. Jay Z recently unveiled plans for his own subscription streaming service, Tidal, which aims to “forever change the course of music history” by offering high-fidelity audio to customers for up to $20 a month, higher royalty rates for musicians—and a share of the company for an endless parade of high-profile artists like Rihanna, Kanye West, Madonna, Jack White, Daft Punk, Arcade Fire and Beyoncé (none of whom seem strapped for cash). Gibbard says the service is dead on arrival.

“If I had been Jay Z, I would have brought out ten artists that were underground or independent and said, ‘These are the people who are struggling to make a living in today’s music industry. Whereas this competitor streaming site pays this person 15 cents for X amount of streams, that same amount of streams on my site, on Tidal, will pay that artist this much,’” Gibbard says. “I think they totally blew it by bringing out a bunch of millionaires and billionaires and propping them up onstage and then having them all complain about not being paid.”

“There was a wonderful opportunity squandered to highlight what this service would mean for artists who are struggling and to make a plea to people’s hearts and pocketbooks to pay a little more for this service that was going to pay these artists a more reasonable streaming rate,” he continues. “And they didn’t do it. That’s why this thing is going to fail miserably.”